The Trick Is to Keep Breathing
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The Trick Is To Keep Breathing was the joint fourth single from Garbage's 1998 sophomore album Version 2.0. It was only released in a few countries in Europe including Germany, Russia and Israel. It was released simultaneously alongside the single "When I Grow Up", to promote the band's winter 1999 European arena tour which was issued in other European countries.
Song profile
"The Trick Is To Keep Breathing" was written and recorded at Smart Studios during the 1997 sessions for Version 2.0.
Pure and ambient, with funky shades of electronic mood, "The Trick Is To Keep Breathing" is a stand out piece on Version 2.0.
Bass on the song is by Daniel Schulman, and also features live strings from Karl Levine on cello, Micheal Masley on cymbalom and Jon J. Vriesacker on violin.
The song was written shortly after the band returned from an island retreat off the coast of Washington, where they spent a couple weeks jamming in order to come up with material for the new album. The song started out very simple and, in typical Garbage fashion, there was a lot more stuff that was recorded on it, but when mixing it, they pulled it back and made it more moody and spare.
The title of "The Trick Is To Keep Breathing" comes from the 1990 debut book of the same name by Scottish author Janice Galloway. The book is published by Vintage / Dalkey Archive.
Single release
"The Trick Is To Keep Breathing" was released as a single EP in several European countries on 15th Feb 1999, in place of the "When I Grow Up" single. It was backed by the B-sides "Can't Seem To Make You Mine" (a Seeds cover), "Tornado" and a remix of previous single "Special" by Rikidy Raw.
Music video
The video for "The Trick Is To Keep Breathing" was helmed by Sophie Muller for Oil Factory. Footage for the video was recorded live in Indianapolis, Indiana; Madison, Wisconsin and St. Louis, Missouri in November 1998 at the same time as shooting for the "When I Grow Up" video.
The video differs from the "When I Grow Up" clip in that instead of showing a live frenzy on screen, the video is moody and sparse, with cool blue and green hues lighting the stage as the band perform. Much of the video is in slow-motion.
Remixes
No official remixes of "The Trick Is To Keep Breathing" exist, however a radio edit of the song was issued on the promo CD for the single.
Live performances
"The Trick Is To Keep Breathing" was first performed live on 19th October 1998 in Tampa, Florida during the Fall 98 US 'Version 2.0' tour. It was performed regularly on live dates until October 1999, when it was dropped from the set. The song was never played on the 'beautifulgarbage' world tour, and has so far not been included as part of the 'Bleed Like Me' tour set.
"The Trick Is To Keep Breathing" was acoustically performed live on TV show Nulle Part Ailleurs (France). It was also filmed (in full electronics) for the MTV Live special that was recorded at the Paris Le Zenith show in January 1999 broadcast on MTV networks later that year.
The Trick Is To Keep Breathing quote, unquote
Butch Vig: "It's about a friend of Shirley's that we know actually, who has been in some really horrible relationships, and particularly one in the last couple of years. The woman is a total sweetheart, but she can't seem to get out of the pattern of going out with some of the most evil, misogynistic people."
Shirley Manson: "The song initially was written about a girlfriend, who, when I was away on tour, I felt I really wasn't there for her. And she went through this very dark period: Her mother kind of turned her back on her, her husband turned his back on her, and she was really at the pit of despair. When I came home from tour, she came to my house and she just disintegrated in front of my eyes. It was absolutely horrendous. And so it was this sort of love song to her. But since then, a lot of people have said that they like the song. It's that general feeling of just keep pushing and you'll get through it. I think everybody can connect with that feeling."
| Garbage |
| Butch Vig | Shirley Manson | Duke Erikson | Steve Marker |
| Discography |
|---|
| Albums and extended plays: Garbage | Version 2.0 | beautifulgarbage | Bleed Like Me | Absolute Garbage |
| Singles: "Vow" | "Subhuman" | "Only Happy When It Rains" | "Queer" | "Stupid Girl" | "Milk" | "Number One Crush" | "Push It" | "I Think I'm Paranoid" | "Special" | "The Trick Is to Keep Breathing" | "When I Grow Up" | "You Look So Fine" | "The World Is Not Enough" | "Androgyny" | "Cherry Lips" | "Breaking Up the Girl" | "Shut Your Mouth" | "Why Do You Love Me" | "Bleed Like Me" | "Sex Is Not the Enemy" | "Run Baby Run" |
| Related articles |
| Alternative rock | Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie | Angelfish | The World Is Not Enough | Mushroom Records | Almo Sounds | Interscope Records |
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